It will be my mother's birthday on the 24th, the second since she died. Somehow this anniversary makes me sadder than the anniversary of her death. In reaction to this, I find myself swamped in creativity or, maybe, in shopping to support creativity. I've been buying lace weight yarn like crazy. I bought three partial cones of Jaggerspun Zephyr and another three colors of cashmere-silk blend on eBay, four different colorways from Black Bunny Yarn, and two colorways of kettle-dyed yarn from Knit Picks. Then today I got a skein of Lorna's Laces Helen's Lace for the 2009 Year of Lace Spring offering.
The funny thing is, I don't know why I'm suddenly accumulating lace weight yarn. It's not in honor of my mother. I never knit a lace shawl for my mother and she wouldn't have worn it if I had. She rarely wore sweaters or jackets or coats and a lace shawl just wasn't her style at all. An afghan would have suited her, but I'm just now starting to think about knitting afghans, mostly for the new house.
There's some miscellaneous news. We're having a heat wave here. It's been in the '90s, which is unusual in April. Today we're having a lot of convective activity and there's an actual thunderstorm just north of us that has really dropped the temperature. I doubt if we'll see any precipitation, though.
Gordo went to the vet last week and he weighs 75 lbs now. He'll be one year old on May Day. He's doing very well, although he has trouble sleeping in the warm evenings. We've started leaving the slider in the bedroom open and he's doing better. His crate is right by the door and the cool air washes over him, making him more comfortable. He also seems to be eating a little better. I think he's not wild about the lamb and rice kibble, so I'm going to look for a different brand next time. Maybe I'll pick up a small bag of Canidae. My previous pair of collies liked it very much, so I can hope Gordo will, too, and that it won't make him itch.
Some time ago I got a new vacuum cleaner, a Eureka, that claims to pick up dog hair. It does and I'm really pleased. I hadn't realized how much hair Gordo had shed in the bedroom (or how much we'd tracked in) until I saw it whirling around in the vacuum cup. His hair is pretty much invisible on the silver plush, which helped conceal the quantity. The vacuum can also be used on hard floors, having a switch to turn the beater brushes off, which is really nice. My halls and bathrooms are tiled and regular vacuums just spread stuff around on them, rather than sucking it up. This vacuum came from Overstock.com and was quite reasonably priced. I looked at Dysans but couldn't find one with the hard-floor option and thought they were kind of expensive. I've had Eurekas before and liked them, so that's what I got.
At the same time I also picked up a Bissell carpet cleaner from Overstock.com. It's refurbished and has a minimal complement of accessories, but I'ver never found that I use the accessories. I probably should, now that I actually think about it, since the chair I regularly sit in is a bit grubby and could stand to have the arms cleaned, at the very least. We have the carpet cleaners come in about once a year and do everything, but with a dog it's nice to be able to tackle spots when they appear, without doing the entire house. All of my dogs have been very good about not making organic messes, being well-trained, but I swear that they would sometimes clench an entire pawful of mud to track onto the carpet on rainy days. Add in my propensity to spill Caffeine-Free Diet Coke and spot-cleaning gets important.
The third thing in my order was a pressure cooker. I've never had one, but my mom loved hers. She was a working woman for as long as I can remember and the pressure cooker let her put dinner on the table in no time. I'm more interested in keeping the kitchen cool during the summer. I'm trying to add some balance and variety to my diet and I know I'm more likely to eat food I've prepared. For example, I despise cooked bell peppers, yet a lot of companies sneak them into frozen meals, where they taint the entire dish. This is particularly true of baked pasta dishes and Mexican foods, like enchiladas. I also think the pressure cooker will let me cook smaller quantities. There's really no reason to make two big pans of cheese enchiladas or lasagna just because you're going to all that work anyway. The cooker is also touted as making excellent rice and, with special pans, steamed desserts. I'll let you know how this works out.
Showing posts with label Puppy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Puppy. Show all posts
22 April 2009
18 February 2009
Miscellaneous News
I thought I'd update everyone on what's going on here. Not that it's a lot, but there are a few little things I've written about earlier.
The crown that I thought would be cemented a day or two ago still isn't here. I finally called and asked about it; I'm sorry to say that the mother of the lab guy passed away and everything has been delayed. However, I have a really good temporary on the tooth, so I'm not in too much of a hurry. I would like to be done with all this, but another week or two isn't going to make a big difference in the long run.
Gordo the Wonder Puppy is doing well. He hasn't had a seizure for a month and he seems to be less drugged than he was when he started on the Keppra. This latter is a mixed blessing; he's recently learned to tip the recycling bin over and fish out something interesting to drag into the family room and dismember. On the other hand, he's sleeping through the night, which has greatly improved my sleep.
My Rainbow Argosy Afghan is about 80% done. Well, maybe not so much, since I dropped a stitch about eight rows back and am tinking back to that point, two rows at a time. I can't just drop the stitches near the error and re-knit, because there's a yarnover in every other row and I don't have enough yarn to make it. Very annoying, as there's also a new ball of yarn joined in the the rows that have to come out.
Anyway, here's a photo of it at about 70% done.
And here's a close-up to show you the pattern and how the variegation works out.
This yarn is really soft and puffy. The afghan is going to be nice and warm. I do like Lorna's Laces yarns. I got a skein of Helen's Lace, which is 50/50 merino and silk. It's a big skein, maybe six ounces, 1200 yards (three-quarters of a mile), and beautifully dyed. I also got a shawl pattern for it. Unfortunately, I've got a number of projects that I absolutely must complete before I start another big lace project. It doesn't help that I have four other lace wraps that I really want to knit and another six or eight that I have in mind.
The crown that I thought would be cemented a day or two ago still isn't here. I finally called and asked about it; I'm sorry to say that the mother of the lab guy passed away and everything has been delayed. However, I have a really good temporary on the tooth, so I'm not in too much of a hurry. I would like to be done with all this, but another week or two isn't going to make a big difference in the long run.
Gordo the Wonder Puppy is doing well. He hasn't had a seizure for a month and he seems to be less drugged than he was when he started on the Keppra. This latter is a mixed blessing; he's recently learned to tip the recycling bin over and fish out something interesting to drag into the family room and dismember. On the other hand, he's sleeping through the night, which has greatly improved my sleep.
My Rainbow Argosy Afghan is about 80% done. Well, maybe not so much, since I dropped a stitch about eight rows back and am tinking back to that point, two rows at a time. I can't just drop the stitches near the error and re-knit, because there's a yarnover in every other row and I don't have enough yarn to make it. Very annoying, as there's also a new ball of yarn joined in the the rows that have to come out.
Anyway, here's a photo of it at about 70% done.
And here's a close-up to show you the pattern and how the variegation works out.
This yarn is really soft and puffy. The afghan is going to be nice and warm. I do like Lorna's Laces yarns. I got a skein of Helen's Lace, which is 50/50 merino and silk. It's a big skein, maybe six ounces, 1200 yards (three-quarters of a mile), and beautifully dyed. I also got a shawl pattern for it. Unfortunately, I've got a number of projects that I absolutely must complete before I start another big lace project. It doesn't help that I have four other lace wraps that I really want to knit and another six or eight that I have in mind.
10 February 2009
Something New & Yard Work
I did something I never thought I'd do. I ordered the DVD of the entire first season of a TV show, The Big Bang Theory. I really don't watch much TV, but I like this show. My goddaughter, who was then majoring in physics at Penn State, recommended it to me at about the second show, but we didn't get around to watching it until late last year. Now that we've discovered it, I had to have the first season. It's really a funny show.
Hard-science guys with little or no idea about social interactions; where I have seen that before? Why, could it be at UCLA, where I was an engineering student? Or at NASA Dryden, where I was an engineer for most of my career? Or both?
We're having the trees trimmed today and tomorrow. We have three big forty-year-plus fruitless mulberries and they have to be "laced" every couple of years to reduce the sail loading when the wind blows. We also have a Chinese pistache that's nearly as big and a beautiful liquidamber beside the driveway that needed a little trimming, nothing as drastic as the mulberries.
My pomegranate bush needed to be cut back severely, though, since it sets fruit on newer growth. It's down to about four trunks now, instead of a dozen. I only had about a dozen fruit on it last year, if that many. It may not produce much this year, but I should get a bumper crop the next year. If the school kids leave me enough, I'll juice them and make jelly. Messy, but gratifying. Making this jelly is a family tradition dating back almost fifty years. I cheat and use bottled pomegranate juice from the supermarket when I don't have fresh fruit available. I posted the recipe here earlier.
The junipers on the other side of the driveway had encroached quite fiercely and we cut them back about three feet, maybe more. They really look ugly now, but they'll grow back. We've created some nice humus under there, I noticed. I asked the trimmers to cut the ivy and Virginia creeper in the back yard back to the ground. Both had really gotten out of hand and were taking over. They're going to move my Madame Galen scarlet trumpet creeper around to the back yard so I can see it from the windows (which are almost all on the back of the house). I'm not really razing all the plant life at the house, although it may sound like it. I'm just tidying up stuff that has needed attention for a while. I'd kind of coasted on some of this but I suddenly got tired of the overgrown vines and the narrowed driveway and the clutter.
This is the same team that's going to transplant my big Mediterranean clumping fan palm from here in Lancaster to the front yard of our house in Palm Desert. We left a big space for it when we landscaped down there. It's outgrown the place I have it in here and needs to be moved somewhere. It was a gift from a very dear friend, a guy who went to college with my husband and worked at Dryden for many years. He has since died, so the palm is very dear to me.
Here's the Mediterranean clumping fan palm from the south. To give you an idea of its size, the block front of the raised bed is about 26". You can see some of the Virginia creeper on the left side of the photo, growing into the palm. These three photos were taken in September, which is why the creeper still has its leaves. Right now it's just a bundle of light brown stems and really ugly.
Here's a photo from the southeast, with the trunk of the Chinese pistache on the right side. You can see Virginia creeper on both sides. The stuff really spreads.
And this photo is from the north. The grass-like plant that you can see arching on the right is a volunteer clump of pampas grass. The neighbors on the other side of the wall had pampas grass against their side of the wall and it seeded freely. Pampas grass is nasty to deal with. It's very hard to kill and the leaves are exceeding sharp. It'll cut bare hands readily. This little clump is going away tomorrow, along with all that Virginia creeper you can see.
Gordo the Wonder Puppy has greatly enjoyed having the tree trimmers over. They are very obliging with pats and attention and have flapping pants cuffs to chase. He had to come into the house because I decided he was a bit of a tripping menace, chasing cuffs and boot laces. I think the crew was relieved to see him go. I would have been. It was really funny to see him take in the changes in the back yard after the team knocked off for the day. The ivy is down off the little metal shed in heaps and some of the privets have vanished.
Gordo went to the vet to have his blood levels of his epilepsy meds checked. He's up to 68 pounds, at 9.5 months. He's supposed to weigh about 75 pounds when he's fully grown, but I'm beginning to think he may be a little heavier. He'll still fit on my lap, as long as I have the hassock under my legs to extend my lap enough. He napped briefly on my lap this afternoon, having been worn out by all the excitement and getting up early. He's definitely still a puppy.
Hard-science guys with little or no idea about social interactions; where I have seen that before? Why, could it be at UCLA, where I was an engineering student? Or at NASA Dryden, where I was an engineer for most of my career? Or both?
We're having the trees trimmed today and tomorrow. We have three big forty-year-plus fruitless mulberries and they have to be "laced" every couple of years to reduce the sail loading when the wind blows. We also have a Chinese pistache that's nearly as big and a beautiful liquidamber beside the driveway that needed a little trimming, nothing as drastic as the mulberries.
My pomegranate bush needed to be cut back severely, though, since it sets fruit on newer growth. It's down to about four trunks now, instead of a dozen. I only had about a dozen fruit on it last year, if that many. It may not produce much this year, but I should get a bumper crop the next year. If the school kids leave me enough, I'll juice them and make jelly. Messy, but gratifying. Making this jelly is a family tradition dating back almost fifty years. I cheat and use bottled pomegranate juice from the supermarket when I don't have fresh fruit available. I posted the recipe here earlier.
The junipers on the other side of the driveway had encroached quite fiercely and we cut them back about three feet, maybe more. They really look ugly now, but they'll grow back. We've created some nice humus under there, I noticed. I asked the trimmers to cut the ivy and Virginia creeper in the back yard back to the ground. Both had really gotten out of hand and were taking over. They're going to move my Madame Galen scarlet trumpet creeper around to the back yard so I can see it from the windows (which are almost all on the back of the house). I'm not really razing all the plant life at the house, although it may sound like it. I'm just tidying up stuff that has needed attention for a while. I'd kind of coasted on some of this but I suddenly got tired of the overgrown vines and the narrowed driveway and the clutter.
This is the same team that's going to transplant my big Mediterranean clumping fan palm from here in Lancaster to the front yard of our house in Palm Desert. We left a big space for it when we landscaped down there. It's outgrown the place I have it in here and needs to be moved somewhere. It was a gift from a very dear friend, a guy who went to college with my husband and worked at Dryden for many years. He has since died, so the palm is very dear to me.
Here's the Mediterranean clumping fan palm from the south. To give you an idea of its size, the block front of the raised bed is about 26". You can see some of the Virginia creeper on the left side of the photo, growing into the palm. These three photos were taken in September, which is why the creeper still has its leaves. Right now it's just a bundle of light brown stems and really ugly.
Here's a photo from the southeast, with the trunk of the Chinese pistache on the right side. You can see Virginia creeper on both sides. The stuff really spreads.
And this photo is from the north. The grass-like plant that you can see arching on the right is a volunteer clump of pampas grass. The neighbors on the other side of the wall had pampas grass against their side of the wall and it seeded freely. Pampas grass is nasty to deal with. It's very hard to kill and the leaves are exceeding sharp. It'll cut bare hands readily. This little clump is going away tomorrow, along with all that Virginia creeper you can see.
Gordo the Wonder Puppy has greatly enjoyed having the tree trimmers over. They are very obliging with pats and attention and have flapping pants cuffs to chase. He had to come into the house because I decided he was a bit of a tripping menace, chasing cuffs and boot laces. I think the crew was relieved to see him go. I would have been. It was really funny to see him take in the changes in the back yard after the team knocked off for the day. The ivy is down off the little metal shed in heaps and some of the privets have vanished.
Gordo went to the vet to have his blood levels of his epilepsy meds checked. He's up to 68 pounds, at 9.5 months. He's supposed to weigh about 75 pounds when he's fully grown, but I'm beginning to think he may be a little heavier. He'll still fit on my lap, as long as I have the hassock under my legs to extend my lap enough. He napped briefly on my lap this afternoon, having been worn out by all the excitement and getting up early. He's definitely still a puppy.
05 February 2009
Latest News about Gordo the Wonder Puppy
About a week ago we started Gordo on another drug, Keppra, for his epilepsy. This is in addition to the Phenobarbital and the potassium bromide. It actually seems to have controlled the seizures that were slipping through the first two drugs, but it also seems to have really upset his digestive system. His appetite has really gone away and he has been producing very soft stools, which are a real nuisance to pick up off the lawn. He also seems to be really uncomfortable and doesn't like to have him tummy touched, which is new for him.
Today we took him over to the vet to discuss this whole thing. They took blood to check the Phenobarbital and potassium bromide levels and examined him, poking at his tummy and listening to various places. The vet told me to take him off the Keppra for a while, to see if the problem clears up. And they gave me probiota paste and capsules.
The probiota paste, which has all kinds of beneficial digestive bacteria in it, comes in a tube about half the size of a caulk tube, like you use around sinks and tubs and stuff. I dialed up the 5-ml dose, convinced Gordo to let me put the end into his mouth, and squeezed the stuff onto his tongue. He promptly spat the entire dose of beige paste out, right onto my white jeans. Then he sniffed it, licked it off, and started looking for more.
Now I wonder what's going to happen with the next dose. I know I won't be wearing white jeans again. Khaki pants, maybe.
Today we took him over to the vet to discuss this whole thing. They took blood to check the Phenobarbital and potassium bromide levels and examined him, poking at his tummy and listening to various places. The vet told me to take him off the Keppra for a while, to see if the problem clears up. And they gave me probiota paste and capsules.
The probiota paste, which has all kinds of beneficial digestive bacteria in it, comes in a tube about half the size of a caulk tube, like you use around sinks and tubs and stuff. I dialed up the 5-ml dose, convinced Gordo to let me put the end into his mouth, and squeezed the stuff onto his tongue. He promptly spat the entire dose of beige paste out, right onto my white jeans. Then he sniffed it, licked it off, and started looking for more.
Now I wonder what's going to happen with the next dose. I know I won't be wearing white jeans again. Khaki pants, maybe.
25 January 2009
I Haven't Dropped Off The Surface Of The Earth
It's been more than two months since I last posted something here, although I've been updating afca regularly. There's isn't a lot of news, except about Gordo the Collie Puppy and his epilepsy. I did a little knitting and will update that soon, with photos.
Meanwhile, about the Wonder Puppy....
We've been titrating his dosages of Phenobarbital and potassium bromide and seem to be getting satisfactory blood levels. The number of seizures has dropped significantly. Last week we bit the bullet and sent him down to West Los Angeles to have an MRI and a spinal tap, just to be absolutely certain that there was nothing obvious causing the problem. Apparently, onset of epilepsy in a puppy is uncommon, particularly when there's so much trouble controlling it. They didn't find anything, but we did get a nifty DVD and I can assure you that, despite how he sometimes acts, Gordo does indeed have a brain.
Our vet has been consulting with a neurologist (vets specialize these days, just as do MDs). The neurologist suggested a new drug to add to the other two, so our vet called in a prescription to my pharmacy. This is human medication, too, and is very expensive for the uninsured, like Gordo. My pharmacy called me three times, just to make sure I knew how much it cost. We haven't started him on this, yet, because he seems to be doing better without it right now. We'll see.
Meanwhile, about the Wonder Puppy....
We've been titrating his dosages of Phenobarbital and potassium bromide and seem to be getting satisfactory blood levels. The number of seizures has dropped significantly. Last week we bit the bullet and sent him down to West Los Angeles to have an MRI and a spinal tap, just to be absolutely certain that there was nothing obvious causing the problem. Apparently, onset of epilepsy in a puppy is uncommon, particularly when there's so much trouble controlling it. They didn't find anything, but we did get a nifty DVD and I can assure you that, despite how he sometimes acts, Gordo does indeed have a brain.
Our vet has been consulting with a neurologist (vets specialize these days, just as do MDs). The neurologist suggested a new drug to add to the other two, so our vet called in a prescription to my pharmacy. This is human medication, too, and is very expensive for the uninsured, like Gordo. My pharmacy called me three times, just to make sure I knew how much it cost. We haven't started him on this, yet, because he seems to be doing better without it right now. We'll see.
28 November 2008
Gordo's Latest Surprise
Gordo shocked and startled us last month by having an epileptic seizure. We took him to the vet right away and he was put on phenobarbital. He had a couple more seizures, one in the middle of the night. We raced him to the emergency vet clinic at about 0330 in the morning on Saturday and they kept him until Monday morning. Then we took him to the substitute vet (our vet was away at a conference). He's now on KBr (potassium bromide) and we're phasing out the phenobarbital. The KBr is easier on his body, particularly his liver, and doesn't make him so drowsy. He hasn't had any more seizures since.
Gordo goes over next week to have blood drawn, so we can see what the KBr level is. If it's good enough, we may be able to pack up and go to Palm Desert. We have a very good vet down there and our local vet is very confident that he can hand the case off without any great concern. Apparently, epilepsy is fairly common in dogs and controlling it is well-understood.
If the blood levels aren't good enough, we'll have to go back in another ten days and do it all again. By then he'll be off the phenobarbital completely and we'll be hoping that the KBr will do the job. That'll get us out of town around Christmas. We're already into the time of year that we have to plan our trip around the weather. We have to go over three passes to get to the Low Desert, although one of them, Banning Pass, is too low for snow but does sometime have fierce winds.
This will be Gordo's first long car trip since he came from Simi Valley. I'm hoping it isn't too stressful for him, because stress can bring on a seizure. He seems to deal very well with new experiences, though, so he may well take the whole thing in stride and have no problems.
I, on the other hand, will be panicking once we get down there, as my office is absolutely not puppy proof. I'm going to have to pick a lot of stuff up before I can let him in there. He doesn't seem inclined to take books off shelves, but the yarn is at real risk. He loves balls of yarn even better than he loves his stuffed toys. Soft, good mouth feel, the excitement of the chase--what more could a puppy want?
Gordo goes over next week to have blood drawn, so we can see what the KBr level is. If it's good enough, we may be able to pack up and go to Palm Desert. We have a very good vet down there and our local vet is very confident that he can hand the case off without any great concern. Apparently, epilepsy is fairly common in dogs and controlling it is well-understood.
If the blood levels aren't good enough, we'll have to go back in another ten days and do it all again. By then he'll be off the phenobarbital completely and we'll be hoping that the KBr will do the job. That'll get us out of town around Christmas. We're already into the time of year that we have to plan our trip around the weather. We have to go over three passes to get to the Low Desert, although one of them, Banning Pass, is too low for snow but does sometime have fierce winds.
This will be Gordo's first long car trip since he came from Simi Valley. I'm hoping it isn't too stressful for him, because stress can bring on a seizure. He seems to deal very well with new experiences, though, so he may well take the whole thing in stride and have no problems.
I, on the other hand, will be panicking once we get down there, as my office is absolutely not puppy proof. I'm going to have to pick a lot of stuff up before I can let him in there. He doesn't seem inclined to take books off shelves, but the yarn is at real risk. He loves balls of yarn even better than he loves his stuffed toys. Soft, good mouth feel, the excitement of the chase--what more could a puppy want?
09 November 2008
The Dangers of Puppy Ownership
I've got a very garish black eye, sort of, thanks to Gordo. We were playing around on the patio and he thunked my right cheekbone with the top of his hard little head. I didn't realize that it had bruised until the checker at the supermarket asked me how I got my black eye.
During the night it spread up under my eye, to the bottom lid. Gravity, I assume. It's also run down my cheek a bit. The only part that hurts is where the original bruise was; all the rest is just colorful. I'm fairly pale and thin skinned, so bruises really show up on me.
Gordo has finally stopped trying to chew on my watch, which he did by grabbing my entire wrist. My lower arm was quite blue and purple, to the point that the nurse at my doctor's office asked me what I'd been up to. Fortunately, no one seems to think that my dear husband is abusive toward me, so there are no funny looks or anything. Some years ago I had some eye surgery, to raise a droopy eyelid and remove the bags under my eyes (the first was necessary and the second was vanity, which I actually have very little of, but the baggy eyes really bugged me). Naturally I bruised from this. Vividly. Luridly. I had a sales clerk give me the phone number for the Spousal Abuse shelter, telling me I didn't have to put up with being abused. She was kind of embarrassed when I told her it was surgery, not abuse, but I told her she was doing exactly the right thing and should keep on doing it.
The bruising was so bad, and leaving so slowly, that I went to a cosmetologist and learned how to use concealing makeup. After she did a complete concealment job (and taught me how to do it myself, as well as selling me everything I needed), I went over to show my oral surgeon. He was absolutely astonished by the difference, which I too thought was pretty amazing. Everyone in the office, including some of the patients, had to come look, too. The surgeon started referring patients who had oral surgery that bruised to the cosmetologist (I'd brought a handful of her cards with me), which those patients found very helpful.
Now, this isn't a history of my bruising, but I was just reminded of it after Gordo got me. He gave me a split lip, too, but it didn't bruise. We were both reaching for the same toy, which is why my lip was down at his level. Fortunately, that was after I'd been to the oral surgeon and had two bottom front teeth extracted. Otherwise all that keeping my mouth open would have been very painful with a split lip. I go in on Wednesday and get my new crowns cemented. I'll also get the flipper (temporary partial plate) to wear during the entire dental implant process. Because we spend the winter in the Low Desert, the process will take longer than it normally would, probably at least a year.
So keep an eye on those hard puppy heads, OK?
During the night it spread up under my eye, to the bottom lid. Gravity, I assume. It's also run down my cheek a bit. The only part that hurts is where the original bruise was; all the rest is just colorful. I'm fairly pale and thin skinned, so bruises really show up on me.
Gordo has finally stopped trying to chew on my watch, which he did by grabbing my entire wrist. My lower arm was quite blue and purple, to the point that the nurse at my doctor's office asked me what I'd been up to. Fortunately, no one seems to think that my dear husband is abusive toward me, so there are no funny looks or anything. Some years ago I had some eye surgery, to raise a droopy eyelid and remove the bags under my eyes (the first was necessary and the second was vanity, which I actually have very little of, but the baggy eyes really bugged me). Naturally I bruised from this. Vividly. Luridly. I had a sales clerk give me the phone number for the Spousal Abuse shelter, telling me I didn't have to put up with being abused. She was kind of embarrassed when I told her it was surgery, not abuse, but I told her she was doing exactly the right thing and should keep on doing it.
The bruising was so bad, and leaving so slowly, that I went to a cosmetologist and learned how to use concealing makeup. After she did a complete concealment job (and taught me how to do it myself, as well as selling me everything I needed), I went over to show my oral surgeon. He was absolutely astonished by the difference, which I too thought was pretty amazing. Everyone in the office, including some of the patients, had to come look, too. The surgeon started referring patients who had oral surgery that bruised to the cosmetologist (I'd brought a handful of her cards with me), which those patients found very helpful.
Now, this isn't a history of my bruising, but I was just reminded of it after Gordo got me. He gave me a split lip, too, but it didn't bruise. We were both reaching for the same toy, which is why my lip was down at his level. Fortunately, that was after I'd been to the oral surgeon and had two bottom front teeth extracted. Otherwise all that keeping my mouth open would have been very painful with a split lip. I go in on Wednesday and get my new crowns cemented. I'll also get the flipper (temporary partial plate) to wear during the entire dental implant process. Because we spend the winter in the Low Desert, the process will take longer than it normally would, probably at least a year.
So keep an eye on those hard puppy heads, OK?
03 October 2008
Gordo Gets A Surprise
This afternoon the mobile dog groomer parked in front of our house and Gordo got bathed and groomed. This was quite a surprise to him, I think. The groomer said he was very obliging, except when it was time to clip his nails and trim the hair between his toes. Although he protested, he didn't used his new adult teeth or anything, which was a great relief to me.
He got a snappy Hallowe'en bandanna, too. He looks very dashing in it and hasn't yet tried to remove it.
He was five months old on Wednesday, 1 Oct. He's really maturing; he lost his last two baby teeth (OK, deciduous teeth) on Sunday. They were the two upper canines, which were very pointy long teeth. Now he has only shiny new adult teeth. He had to grow a bunch of muzzle to hold them all. I think I should probably be brushing his teeth, at least according to the pet shops and dog supply catalogs. The next time we go to the vet I'll ask about that.
It's cloudy today, with more predicted for the weekend. As soon as I can get some good snapshots of him out in the back yard I'll post them.
He got a snappy Hallowe'en bandanna, too. He looks very dashing in it and hasn't yet tried to remove it.
He was five months old on Wednesday, 1 Oct. He's really maturing; he lost his last two baby teeth (OK, deciduous teeth) on Sunday. They were the two upper canines, which were very pointy long teeth. Now he has only shiny new adult teeth. He had to grow a bunch of muzzle to hold them all. I think I should probably be brushing his teeth, at least according to the pet shops and dog supply catalogs. The next time we go to the vet I'll ask about that.
It's cloudy today, with more predicted for the weekend. As soon as I can get some good snapshots of him out in the back yard I'll post them.
21 September 2008
Shawls, Gordo, and Dog Food
I met a bunch of knitters and crocheters at the Lancaster Panera today and managed to get the ends sewn in for two shawls and one scarf. One of the shawls was made with only two skeins, though, so I can't take much credit on that one. I have two more shawls to go, one with four joins and one with seven. The first is black and I didn't think the light was good enough there to mess with and I just couldn't face doing the second.
Gordo went over on Monday for neutering and repair of his umbilical hernia. Because they had to do two separate tasks, they anesthetized him fairly deeply. We went over and picked him up at 5:00 pm and he was pretty groggy. He came home and wobbled around a bit before lying down. He looked so miserable and was whimpering so pitifully that I picked him up and put him on my lap. He promptly went to sleep, with nary a peep, and slept the sleep of the just for almost four hours. I just held my poor 35.5-lb baby, shifting him occasionally so that my various body parts wouldn't go to sleep.
He perked up a bit when he could finally have water and a light dinner, but went to sleep fairly easily. Now, a week later, he's quite back to normal. He hasn't really needed the awkward Elizabethan collar at all, as he's shown no inclination to lick the incisions. The prickly metal stitched might have something to do with that.
Speaking of dogs and just having fed mine dinner, it's interesting what the current trends in dog food are. I feed what's called superpremium food, because it greatly reduces the amount of waste that the dog produces and I have to pick up. The latest thing is no-grain foods. The position of those who formulate these foods is that dogs didn't evolve eating grain, which is pretty hard to argue with, except that they've lived with people for over 10,000 years and they have to have had the occasional bread crust during all those millennia. The foods do have carbohydrates, like sweet potatoes, fruit, and other vegetables. They also seem to have a variety of meats and meat meals, not just one kind.
Gordo definitely prefers one brand, Evo, over the other, BG, that he's tried. This kind of ruined my idea of puppies being willing to eat everything they can get in their mouth. However, he has, in the last ten minutes, proven that he'll eat aluminum foil and Stouffer's boxes, so I don't think he's all that picky.
So I, being so insensitive to my puppy's tastes (he's only a dog, what's wrong with the stuff they sell at the supermarket), just went by the feed store and picked up a big bag of chicken etc EVO. I only got a few coins back from the $50 I tendered. Fortunately, the superpremium foods are of such high quality that the dog actually eats less for the same number of calories, making this bag last longer than a similarly sized bag of the more common foods. I have checked this out myself, reading feeding tables on every bag of food I've seen. One of the things I discovered doing this was that IAMS cut its serving sizes when they started selling in supermarkets. There was no reformulation of the food to go with the smaller sizes, though.
Gordo went over on Monday for neutering and repair of his umbilical hernia. Because they had to do two separate tasks, they anesthetized him fairly deeply. We went over and picked him up at 5:00 pm and he was pretty groggy. He came home and wobbled around a bit before lying down. He looked so miserable and was whimpering so pitifully that I picked him up and put him on my lap. He promptly went to sleep, with nary a peep, and slept the sleep of the just for almost four hours. I just held my poor 35.5-lb baby, shifting him occasionally so that my various body parts wouldn't go to sleep.
He perked up a bit when he could finally have water and a light dinner, but went to sleep fairly easily. Now, a week later, he's quite back to normal. He hasn't really needed the awkward Elizabethan collar at all, as he's shown no inclination to lick the incisions. The prickly metal stitched might have something to do with that.
Speaking of dogs and just having fed mine dinner, it's interesting what the current trends in dog food are. I feed what's called superpremium food, because it greatly reduces the amount of waste that the dog produces and I have to pick up. The latest thing is no-grain foods. The position of those who formulate these foods is that dogs didn't evolve eating grain, which is pretty hard to argue with, except that they've lived with people for over 10,000 years and they have to have had the occasional bread crust during all those millennia. The foods do have carbohydrates, like sweet potatoes, fruit, and other vegetables. They also seem to have a variety of meats and meat meals, not just one kind.
Gordo definitely prefers one brand, Evo, over the other, BG, that he's tried. This kind of ruined my idea of puppies being willing to eat everything they can get in their mouth. However, he has, in the last ten minutes, proven that he'll eat aluminum foil and Stouffer's boxes, so I don't think he's all that picky.
So I, being so insensitive to my puppy's tastes (he's only a dog, what's wrong with the stuff they sell at the supermarket), just went by the feed store and picked up a big bag of chicken etc EVO. I only got a few coins back from the $50 I tendered. Fortunately, the superpremium foods are of such high quality that the dog actually eats less for the same number of calories, making this bag last longer than a similarly sized bag of the more common foods. I have checked this out myself, reading feeding tables on every bag of food I've seen. One of the things I discovered doing this was that IAMS cut its serving sizes when they started selling in supermarkets. There was no reformulation of the food to go with the smaller sizes, though.
14 September 2008
Gordo and Clyde Nap Together
Gordo and Clyde
Originally uploaded by Mary The Digital Knitter
Gordo got a new stuffed animal yesterday. It's an orangutan we've named Clyde. Clyde has three noisemakers: a duck-call in his belly and two squeakers, one in each leg. He also has long arms and Velcro on his hands, so I can stick them together and drape him around Gordo's neck.
As you can see in the photo, Clyde is quite large, although he isn't very heavy. Gordo can just pick him up but has to be careful not to step on trailing arms or legs.
Gordo has become very fond of Clyde and has brought him to me to play fetch any number of times. The last time I tossed Clyde Gordo carried him back but laid down instead of giving him back to me. Gordo then fell asleep on Clyde's arm, as you see, and I couldn't resist taking snapshots. It's almost 2100, well past Gordo's bed time. He falls asleep easily after the sun goes down.
Gordo goes to the vet tomorrow for surgery to repair his umbilical hernia and neutering. He'll also get his rabies shot so that we can get his license from Los Angeles County. I think we'll register him with Riverside County, too, so that we'll be covered in Palm Desert. He was chipped right after we brought him home, of course.
I stopped at the pet shop today and bought him a larger collar and leash, as he has nearly outgrown the first set. That set is quite narrow, made from ca. 3/8-in. webbing, and now looks too fragile as he has grown so much. The new collar and leash are wider, made of ca. 3/4-in. webbing, and are more proportionate. It'll be interesting to see what happens when we hang the license disk on the collar. I don't think he'll like it.
09 September 2008
On the Internet, Nobody Knows You're a Dog
Last night Gordo was sitting on my lap and he discovered the keyboard of my laptop. The flash washed out the monitor or you'd be able to see that he was reading alt.fans.cecil-adams on Usenet.
I can tell that Gordo's days as a lap dog are numbered. We went to the vet this morning, to have the blood drawn for his pre-surgery lab work, and he weighs 32 lb. He's 19.5 in. tall at the shoulder (adult male collies are 24-26 in. at the shoulder). Most of his height is in his legs. It's going to be a close race to see whether he gets too heavy for me to lift or he gets too leggy to fit on my lap.
Here's another photo. Doesn't he look older in this one? Usually he looks very puppy-like in photos, but there are a few angles at which he looks older. He's only four months and one week old, so he is still a puppy and usually looks it.
Here's one of his four-month birthday presents. It's a magenta tiger, with squeaker, and he's very attached to it. It started with a round ball, about an inch in diameter, on a cloth tape for a tail. It took Gordo about ten minutes to remove the ball. He has subsequently removed most of the cloth tape. It's just visible here; it's the light spot in the center of the back, toward the bottom.
Gordo got an extremely charming sea turtle from his cat cousins in Iowa last week and fell in love with it. He carries it around everywhere and sometimes naps using it as a pillow. The next time he does so and I can reach the camera I'll take a photo. It's really cute.
The cat cousins also gave him a stump with three squeaky squirrels in it that we haven't let him have yet. We're waiting until he gets bored with the current plushy toys (or until he wears them out completely) to give him the stump, which is really great. Too many toys can be confusing to a puppy. Plus, the family room floor is already pretty much paved with dog plushies, rawhide chewies, pig skin rolls, and squeaky latex hippos and frogs. Not that we spoil our dogs or anything, of course.
27 August 2008
Gordo Grows
Look at those long legs and big feet. Gordo had a growth spurt on Sunday and Monday and added an inch of height, I think, all in the legs. He was kind of inert on Monday, except for twice polishing his dish so clean that it was a good mirror. I gave him a little extra for dinner and he didn't even pause, but just ate it down.
Another view of the legs. His muzzle is more readily visible here and its increased length is easy to see. He has to grow muzzle because he's got to fit about twice as many adult teeth into it as he had baby teeth in his little puppy muzzle. He's teething right now and there's just not enough in the world to chew on. The family room floor is an obstacle course of rawhide and pigskin and nylon chewies. He also has a couple of freezable canvas chew bones that seem to give him some relief.
There's the muzzle and nose close up. You can just see the pale spot on his black nose, on the left just above the nostril. I think that's related to his being a merle.
We went to the vet yesterday (Tuesday) to get his last puppy booster shot. He has graduated from the little tabletop scale to the big floor scale, as he now weighs 30.5 lb. That's twice what he weighed when we got him. We also made appointments for his pre-anesthesia blood workup and for the surgery, which will combine neutering and repairing his umbilical hernia. He's almost four months old, meaning that Los Angeles County wants him licensed soon. He'll need his rabies vaccination certificate and his neutering certificate to get his license.
The trip to the vet and the vaccination really wore Gordo out, coming as they did on the heels of the growth spurt. He spent most of the day sleeping, only reviving after dinner. By bedtime he was his usual perky self, racing around the back yard and harassing his beach ball.
12 August 2008
Forget-Me-Not Shawl
Forget-Me-Not Shawl
Originally uploaded by Mary The Digital Knitter
Here's the latest photo of my Forget-Me-Not Shawl. The pattern, like the yarn, is from Elann. The yarn is a fingering weight yarn made from soybeans. They use what's left from making tofu, which is, based on the recommended acid dyes, protein. This yarn only comes in the cream color you see here. It's intended as a base yarn for hand dyeing. I really like this yarn and I've ordered a bag (ten skeins) of it for another lace project.
I've finished 114 rows, comprising the setup and three repeats of the first pattern. I'm going to add another repeat of this pattern before going on to the three repeats of the second pattern. I'm adding the repeat because the shawl is 66" wide when made with six repeats and I'm making it for someone who is taller than average and would look better in a larger version. The original six-repeat version calls for five skeins of yarn. I bought six and I think that's exactly how much I'll need for the seven-repeat version. However, if I'm wrong it'll be OK, since I bought the additional bag.
Edited to add: According to the triangular shawl progress calculator, I'm about 30% done. The person I was making this for expressed a burning passion for brighter colors, so this shawl has a new recipient. She's shorter and more slender than is the original recipient, so I'm knitting it to the pattern, not larger.
05 August 2008
Gordo and the Purple Hippo Squeakie
Gordo
Originally uploaded by Mary The Digital Knitter
Here's Gordo, three months and four days old. He weighs 22 lb and is a lot taller. Notice that the tail, legs, and nose have grown quite a bit. He won't fit through a couple of his favorite shortcuts any more, which surprises him.
He's got a lovely nature, very amiable, and is a joy to have around. He's figured out the house-training business completely. He's an intelligent little fellow and has picked up several commands. He has a burning passion for shoelaces but no longer unties my husband's laces, after a few admonitions. However, my friend Pat's laces are fair game.
We took him over for his next-to-last puppy shot today. It doesn't seem to have slowed him down a bit. He's been bouncing around all afternoon, except for an hour or so. I went out to run a few errands and he went into his crate for a nap. Amazing how a short nap will re-energize a puppy. When I got home, he was ready to go for another four or five hours.
The sun has set now and so has the puppy. He's definitely diurnal. Perhaps puppies run on sunlight and puppy kibble....
19 July 2008
A Little Explanation About Collies
This whole collie story is kind of complicated and now that we finally have our collie, I can set the story down in an orderly way. There are five collies involved, all sable and white or sable merle and white, and all male.
The first collie was the rough-coated collie puppy who died shortly after he was born, about two months ago. I mentioned him here before.
The second collie was Dakota, the three-year-old rough male who had decided he didn't like going to dog shows. His breeder decided to try one more show season to finish his championship in the conformation ring (he was halfway there already). However, it took her almost a month to decide this, while we waited in Palm Desert in a very hot June. On the other hand, we were there to have company from New Jersey that we wouldn't have had in Lancaster.
The third collie, from the second breeder, in Simi Valley, was another rough puppy, but the breeder's daughter decided she wanted him if he was of good enough quality. She's married to another collie breeder in the Midwest. He was, so off he went.
The fourth collie was a two-year-old rough male with an overbite and a bit of a history. He, however, developed collie nose and the breeder decided to give him to a friend who had known him for some time. She didn't feel comfortable about him coming to me in the desert, as she couldn't give her usual guarantees of good health.
So, after deciding that I didn't really want a puppy, even though they're precious and adorable, and even after preferring rough-coated collies (like Lassie), I changed my mind yet again and ended up with the fifth collie, a smooth-coated puppy. We've had him for nine days. He's grown so much you can see the difference from day to day. He's very smart and is figuring out the house-training business very well. We just love him.
The first collie was the rough-coated collie puppy who died shortly after he was born, about two months ago. I mentioned him here before.
The second collie was Dakota, the three-year-old rough male who had decided he didn't like going to dog shows. His breeder decided to try one more show season to finish his championship in the conformation ring (he was halfway there already). However, it took her almost a month to decide this, while we waited in Palm Desert in a very hot June. On the other hand, we were there to have company from New Jersey that we wouldn't have had in Lancaster.
The third collie, from the second breeder, in Simi Valley, was another rough puppy, but the breeder's daughter decided she wanted him if he was of good enough quality. She's married to another collie breeder in the Midwest. He was, so off he went.
The fourth collie was a two-year-old rough male with an overbite and a bit of a history. He, however, developed collie nose and the breeder decided to give him to a friend who had known him for some time. She didn't feel comfortable about him coming to me in the desert, as she couldn't give her usual guarantees of good health.
So, after deciding that I didn't really want a puppy, even though they're precious and adorable, and even after preferring rough-coated collies (like Lassie), I changed my mind yet again and ended up with the fifth collie, a smooth-coated puppy. We've had him for nine days. He's grown so much you can see the difference from day to day. He's very smart and is figuring out the house-training business very well. We just love him.
27 May 2008
Sad Puppy News & Good Collie News
I'm sorry to have to tell you that a sable and white male puppy was born as part of the litter I was talking about, but he was very small and didn't breathe right and died within a day of his birth. The other five puppies were all, every one, female. I'd never even seen this puppy and I didn't hear about his death until two days later, but I just feel so terrible I can't find words to describe it. I think all the (human) deaths in the family have made me really sensitive on the subject.
Anyway, the breeder asked me again if we really had to have a puppy, not an older dog. We talked it over and I called her back to discuss the matter. She has a lovely (six points toward a championship in the conformation ring) sable merle and white rough-coated male collie she's looking for a home for. He's three years old and, she says, an absolute sweetie who would love to be the only dog of doting owners. He's been lying around her house, being adorable but not earning his keep, because he retired himself from the show ring after deciding that he absolutely did not like dog shows any more at all whatsoever. Part of the deal is that we'll keep him unaltered for a while, in case she decides she wants to use him in her breeding program. As soon as the breeder can get away from the puppies (she's having to supplement their feeding, as the dam didn't have enough milk), she'll bring him over and make sure we all like each other. Then he's ours.
And--I'm crossing my fingers here--it appears we've sold my mother's house. As soon as I sign the paperwork that's coming tomorrow and get it back (what would we do without Fedex?), the house goes into escrow. It's an FHA loan, too, which means a forty-five day escrow. Now you and I both know that houses can fall out of escrow for a zillion reasons, but I think we can safely let ourselves be a little optimistic here.
Anyway, the breeder asked me again if we really had to have a puppy, not an older dog. We talked it over and I called her back to discuss the matter. She has a lovely (six points toward a championship in the conformation ring) sable merle and white rough-coated male collie she's looking for a home for. He's three years old and, she says, an absolute sweetie who would love to be the only dog of doting owners. He's been lying around her house, being adorable but not earning his keep, because he retired himself from the show ring after deciding that he absolutely did not like dog shows any more at all whatsoever. Part of the deal is that we'll keep him unaltered for a while, in case she decides she wants to use him in her breeding program. As soon as the breeder can get away from the puppies (she's having to supplement their feeding, as the dam didn't have enough milk), she'll bring him over and make sure we all like each other. Then he's ours.
And--I'm crossing my fingers here--it appears we've sold my mother's house. As soon as I sign the paperwork that's coming tomorrow and get it back (what would we do without Fedex?), the house goes into escrow. It's an FHA loan, too, which means a forty-five day escrow. Now you and I both know that houses can fall out of escrow for a zillion reasons, but I think we can safely let ourselves be a little optimistic here.
30 April 2008
Hot Puppy Love
Have I got news! I talked to the Collie Club of America representative in Hesperia (less than an hour east of Lancaster) and one of her dams is going to have five puppies on Cinco de Mayo. As soon as she knows what they are she'll give me a call. If there's a sable and white male, he's mine, all mine! OK, ours, all ours!
His name will be Gordo, named after Charles Gordon "Gordo" Fullerton, NASA astronaut and now a Dryden research test pilot. He and his wife live two streets over from us and they have also had collies. The previous two collies were named after Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Before that, I was using names from "Macbeth".
If we don't get a sable and white male from that litter, her friend has a sable dam about to have puppies, so there's a second chance. And the third chance is the representative's second dam.
I talked to her for about half an hour and gave her several references. One of them, Sheri Moss, is the top gun in working collies. Another, the breeder I got Donal and Malcolm from, is a good friend of the representative. That was a real relief to both of us. Good, careful breeders don't like to send their babies home with just anyone, you know. I was all prepared with even more references, like vets, but it's OK.
I'm so excited. I can hardly wait.
His name will be Gordo, named after Charles Gordon "Gordo" Fullerton, NASA astronaut and now a Dryden research test pilot. He and his wife live two streets over from us and they have also had collies. The previous two collies were named after Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Before that, I was using names from "Macbeth".
If we don't get a sable and white male from that litter, her friend has a sable dam about to have puppies, so there's a second chance. And the third chance is the representative's second dam.
I talked to her for about half an hour and gave her several references. One of them, Sheri Moss, is the top gun in working collies. Another, the breeder I got Donal and Malcolm from, is a good friend of the representative. That was a real relief to both of us. Good, careful breeders don't like to send their babies home with just anyone, you know. I was all prepared with even more references, like vets, but it's OK.
I'm so excited. I can hardly wait.
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